Two of Wisconsin's largest cities land in the top twenty in a new ranking for parks.
The nonprofit Trust for Public Land has issued its annual ParkScore rankings. They're based on five metrics - including access, acreage, investment and amenities.
Madison was 13th on the list, with Milwaukee coming in at number 20.
The organization also released a report on the power of parks to promote public health.
Beyond serving as spaces for physical activity, connecting with nature, and social interactions - the Trust for Public Land's Land and People Lab Senior Vice President and Director - Dr. Howard Frumkin, said urban parks offer specific benefits.
"Lowering the temperature in the neighborhood, which helps people withstand heat waves," said Frumkin. "Lowering noise levels - noise being a very common urban stressor."
Meanwhile, the top 5 cities include two from Minnesota - Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Others high up on the list are Washington D.C. - which is number one - along with Irvine, California, and Arlington, Virginia.
Researchers found in many places park planning and programs cater to underserved groups or those needing improved accessibility.
Linda Hwang - senior director for strategy and innovation at the Trust for Public Land's Land and People Lab - said innovation and creativity can vary among different park agencies.
"We're seeing people with different types of mobility issues," said Hwang. "Can we really be thinking about all-inclusive design, for example, and even just trying to really cater to some of the emerging mental health challenges? So that custom programming, custom design is something that we didn't expect to find. And so it's just been a really nice surprise for us to see that."
The report found that among some large cities, including New York and Chicago, investments in parks have declined - but Hwang said there are positive signs in some mid-sized cities.
"I think one of the significant challenges is around investments," said Hwang. "So that is one of the categories that we track in the park score index. And when we look across the trends across the 100 largest cities, we are happy that in general, we see some rebounding from the COVID era cuts that we saw across city agencies."
For park investments, Madison and Milwaukee scored closer to average but did better in terms of access.
get more stories like this via email
The Bureau of Land Management proposed a new plan for public lands in southwest Wyoming, that makes some headway for conservation.
The BLM's new resource management plan for the 3.6 million acre Rock Springs Field Office is the first update since 1997.
According to the agency, the plan incorporates both new science and updated federal priorities including renewable energy and federal-Tribal relations.
The BLM must consider mining, grazing, recreation interests and - as of a rule effective in June - the "health and resilience of ecosystems."
Meghan Riley, wildlife program manager with the Wyoming Outdoors Council, said some parts of the plan strike an effective balance - for example, prioritizing greater sage-grouse and big-game species in the area's northern portion.
"It's sort of a win-win," said Riley, "because there's limited potential and even no potential for a lot of mineral development in that area."
The agency had four alternative plans to work with, and chose a mix of what it calls the "conservation" and "balanced" options.
In a statement, Gov. Mark Gordon said the new one "does not meet Wyoming's expectations."
The final mix of options significantly scales back some conservation opportunities, including cutting the number of areas of environmental concern from 16 to 12.
Riley said the plan could have further protected crucial wildlife habitats such as winter range and migration corridors across the whole area, rather than applying the strongest protections in only a few locations.
"Having management actions that are tied to specific habitat types might allow the agency to be more nimble," said Riley, "in updating management as new maps and data are available from the state."
The public protest period runs through September 23.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
get more stories like this via email
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation has issued flood alerts following wildfires burning huge swaths of the state.
Floods are more likely after fires because there is less vegetation on the land to absorb water. At least 64 wildfires are burning in Montana right now and the state is closing in on a thousand for the year.
While wildfires can burn quickly and threaten structures and human lives, they create another danger even after the flames are out.
Traci Sears, national flood insurance program coordinator for the department, said the blazes leave behind acres of barren land unable to absorb rain water.
"Essentially, that soil actually becomes what they call 'hydrophobic,'" Sears explained. "It will repel water almost like concrete would. It can cause situations where you don't just have flooding but you could actually have mud flows as well."
The state is creating an interactive flood plain map to track where floods are likely to happen and to help residents plan for them when heavy rains come.
The severity of the flooding varies based on the terrain and type of vegetation destroyed by the fire but Sears pointed out it can take as long as seven years for some areas to regrow shrubs and other ground cover, and longer for trees. On the positive side, Sears noted the issue is drawing more attention because the state has been making residents more aware of the threat.
"There has definitely been more awareness, I would say, in the last six to seven years," Sears observed. "Montana has been really proactive in working not just with the flooding department but also looking and working with our fire department as well, to try and coordinate on some of this messaging."
The fires in Montana have scorched nearly 90,000 acres as dry and windy conditions persist throughout the western United States.
get more stories like this via email
The federal government is looking to combat the climate crisis and protect public lands in Utah and around the country by empowering young adults.
Ken Goodson, director of the National Civilian Community Corps for AmeriCorps, said its newly launched partnership with the U.S. Forest Service will give people ages 18-26 hands-on experience in wildfire mitigation, reforestation, conservation and resource management.
"The origin story here is largely one based on successful history of AmeriCorps programs and working in the environmental, conservations space," Goodson pointed out. "Then just the increasing risk that we see through a greater frequency of fires and a greater intensity of fires, particularly here in the Mountain West."
Goodson pointed out the U.S. Forest Service launched its wildfire crisis and reforestation strategies over a year ago and approached AmeriCorps in an effort to grow its "people power" to implement both strategies, and invest in a future workforce.
Goodson said the Forest Corps is one of the first new programs launched as part of President Biden's American Climate Corps, an initiative aimed at training young people in high-demand skill areas for jobs in the clean energy sector.
"Under the Climate Corps initiative you have the opportunity to help get these disparate efforts largely rowing in the same direction," Goodson emphasized. "Thinking about greater, collective impact and then also individual programs being able to share their successes, their challenges."
More than 40,000 acres have burned in Utah so far this year, significantly more than last year's 18,000 acres.
With climate change having an effect, Goodson added it is another reason the Forest Corps program is so needed.
"The moment in time right now with fires becoming more frequent and more intense really causes me to feel like the Forest Corps is the right program for the right time and would certainly welcome any 18- to 26-year-olds who are interested to please check us out," Goodson concluded.
get more stories like this via email